Children's home run by Acorn Homes (UK) Ltd

Inspection report children’s home: 1258199 1 Registered provider: Acorn Homes (UK) Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a privately owned children’s home that provides care and accommodation for up to five children who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable Inspection report children’s home: 1258199 2 Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Key findings from this inspection

 Staff develop positive and effective relationships with the young people in their care.  Young people are able to see how the positive changes they have made are improving their lives.  There is a committed staff team that supports the young people well.  The registered manager is providing good leadership of the home.  The senior leadership maintain good oversight of the home.

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Key findings from this inspection

The children’s home’s areas for development:

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Key findings from this inspection

 Recruitment of staff who have the appropriate skills to meet the needs of the young people has not been consistent since the home opened. While there has been a change to the selection process, this would benefit from further review.  Supervision is provided regularly to staff. However, there has not been a consistent approach and not all of the staff have had the opportunity to genuinely reflect on their practice.  Although children’s views are sought individually, a consistent approach is not in place for gaining their views in relation to the day-to-day running of the home.  There are plans for developing the home and the staff team. However, a workforce development plan is not in place to detail how these will be implemented.  Staff support children to engage in education, but this needs a greater focus to enable children to move towards fully reintegrating into full-time education wherever possible.

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Recent inspection history

This is the first full inspection of this children’s home since it opened in July 2017. Inspection report children’s home: 1258199 3

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

(4) The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

(a) a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation;

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Requirement Due date

(d) a child protection enquiry involving a child— (i) is instigated; or (ii) concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry). 31/03/2018

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Requirement Due date

13: The leadership and management standard

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Requirement Due date

(1) The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

(a) helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

(2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

(c) ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

(e) ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child. 31/03/2018

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Recommendations

 The registered person must have systems in place so that all staff, including the Inspection report children’s home: 1258199 4 manager, receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional, which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)  Regulation 45 sets out requirements for the registered person to have a system in place which allows them to monitor the matters set out in the regulation at least once every six months; also see regulation 13(2)(h) (the leadership and management standard). The registered person should undertake a review that focuses on the quality of the care provided by the home, the experiences of children living there and the impact the care is having on outcomes and improvements for the children. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations

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Recommendations

including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.2)  Children must be consulted regularly on their views about the home’s care, to inform and support continued improvement in the quality of care provided. Children should be able to see the results of their views being listened to and acted upon. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.11)  The registered person should have a workforce plan which can fulfil the workforce-related requirements of regulation 16, schedule 1 (paragraphs 19 and 20) The plan should: – detail the necessary management and staffing structure, (including any staff commissioned to provide health and education), the experience and qualifications of staff currently working within the staffing structure and any further training required for those staff, to enable the delivery of the home’s Statement of Purpose; – detail the processes and agreed timescales for staff to achieve induction,

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Recommendations

probation and any core training (such as safeguarding, health and safety and mandatory qualifications); – detail the process for managing and improving poor performance; – detail the process and timescales for supervision of practice (see regulation 33 (4)(b)) and keep appropriate records for staff in the home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8)  Where children placed in a home are not participating in education because they have been excluded or are not on a school roll for some other reason, the registered person and staff must work closely with the placing authority so that the child is supported and enabled to resume full-time education as soon as possible. In the interim, the child should be supported to sustain or regain their confidence in education and be engaged in suitable structured activities. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 28,

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Inspection judgements

Inspection report children’s home: 1258199 5

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager has ensured that young people only move into the home following a matching and risk assessing process which considers all the other children placed. Placement planning has been completed effectively with each young person’s social worker and a clear plan has been agreed in order to meet the young person’s needs and manage any known risks. For some young people, further needs became apparent after their admission; this initially inhibited their progress and required the implementation of prompt alterations to their care plans, including a move within the company for one young person. However, young people have made good progress when compared with their individual starting points.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have worked well with all internal and external agencies to ensure that young people are provided with the specialist support they need, including mental health support. They have worked well in supporting young people to develop alternative coping strategies and through this strengthen their emotional resilience. Young people are able to identify the beneficial changes they have made since being in placement, which contributes to their positive sense of self. Staff have supported young people to address substance misuse, and significant progress has been made in this area. There has also been a considerable reduction in episodes of young people going missing from care and for some this is no longer a risk, which marks a significant improvement in their behaviours.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are supported to manage their behaviours through incentivising approaches which help them to focus on working towards positive goals. This has worked well and is supported by monthly reviews with young people in relation to how they are progressing. Young people are provided with a separate education room where they engage in learning, and where they can access the internet with appropriate support from staff. Education is supported in the home, with a recognition that young people have previously struggled to engage in their learning, and with staff supporting them to engage in study in the home. This has raised some challenges for staff in terms of ensuring young people’s engagement in daily structured activities. The home will need the support of the placing authority in order to enable young people to access full-time education in the long term.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have engaged young people well in direct work following a difficult period over the festive season, demonstrating the young people’s positive relationships with the staff. There has been significant progress made in reducing identified risks for young people. This enabled two young people to successfully move on to individual foster placements, with staff supporting them through these positive transitions in a planned way and at a pace the young people were comfortable with.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people have a good understanding of their care plans and enjoy positive, supportive relationships with their individual key workers. Staff support young people to access the specific activities they wish to engage in. Staff work well with external services and support young people to attend appointments.. Staff support young people’s relationships with family members where this is in their best interest. Young Inspection report children’s home: 1258199 6 people are supported to access independent advocacy support and legal advice where needed. They understand the complaints process, although no complaints have been made; young people are consulted with about life in the home, but do not receive feedback about how their views are acted upon.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff are committed to the young people in their care; however, the staff continue to reflect on their needs in order to ensure that they are best placed to meet these. This is undertaken in collaboration with the young people’s allocated social workers, and is based on the assessment of identified risks. Young people in the home have all presented with significant vulnerabilities, some of which have emerged while they have been in placement. Staff have worked well with the local police and children’s services to manage the emerging risks that are affecting young people. The registered manager also works effectively with each young person’s social worker in relation to the management of risk.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The registered manager has developed a tool for evaluating the effectiveness of the assessment of risk. This provides helpful analysis and understanding of the work undertaken by staff, resulting in additional guidance being given to staff in how to meet young people’s needs. This has informed decision-making in relation to the suitability of the placement for one young person for whom risks associated with recent extended periods of missing from the home have increased. The registered manager has taken appropriate and timely action in relation to this, working with the social worker to review the suitability of the placement.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff recruitment and vetting follow best practice and contribute well to safeguarding children. This is supported by regular supervision for staff. Where issues are identified in relation to staff practice, these are addressed in a timely manner. Staff understand the expectations of their role and demonstrate commitment to meeting these expectations. The registered manager has been decisive in managing staff issues.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The home’s fire precautions provide appropriate protection from the risk of fire, with the relevant safety checks and risk assessments having been undertaken prior to the home opening. The registered manager ensures that regular fire alarm tests and fire drills are completed. These procedures are also included in the induction of new staff. An induction occurs for each young person when they first move to the home, to aid their understanding of fire safety, which is a particular strength of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The registered manager is experienced and suitably qualified, and is well supported by a deputy manager. The registered manager continues to develop professionally, undertaking advanced training to meet the needs of the young people, specifically in relation to working with young people at risk of child sexual exploitation. The registered Inspection report children’s home: 1258199 7 manager and deputy manager have changed their working arrangements to ensure that management support is provided consistently in the home. This was done in recognition of the impact of a difficult period in the home during the festive season, and reflects both good leadership of the staff team and effective support for the young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The home’s managers work well together to support the needs of the young people in their care. The registered manager has challenged children’s services where information provided at the point of referral has been significantly different to the needs and identified risks presented by young people after they have moved to the home. The registered manager recognises when it is not possible to meet young people’s needs in the placement, and arranges meetings with children’s services to agree planning.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff are provided with a comprehensive induction and training programme before undertaking the QCF level 3 qualification. The registered manager has identified training needs for the staff which directly relate to the work undertaken to support young people in their care. They understand the strengths of the staff team while recognising the areas of development for a new team in a new children’s home. There is currently no workforce development plan.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The home’s management team has an understanding of the important issues for the staff team and the staff have confidence in the managers, and feel able to seek their support and guidance. Staff supervision is undertaken on a regular basis. However, this does not provide consistency in terms of the areas discussed and the level of reflection on practice. The registered manager needs to develop supervision to ensure the focus is on specific areas of practice, including safeguarding, in order for the staff team to provide consistency of practice. There is effective oversight of the home by the senior leadership team and this is reflected in the registered manager’s supervision and the review systems in place.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Since the home opened, seven staff members have left, which is high for this small team. The six-monthly quality of care review (regulation 45) conducted did not fully utilise the opportunity to reflect on this and on the difficulties experienced over the festive period. To address this, the registered manager has implemented changes in the recruitment process for new staff. Systems have been developed for monitoring the quality of care provided.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The home is bright and modern and there are examples of the young people beginning to contribute to this, including personalising their own rooms. Young people have contributed their views through the house meetings. However, young people have not always attended these meetings, which means they do not always understand the agreed actions. The registered manager has identified areas in which the home can be developed in the future; this would be best supported by gaining the views of young people in the home, as part of the quality of care review.

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Information about this inspection

Inspection report children’s home: 1258199 8 Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the differences made to the lives of children and young people. They watched how professional staff work with children and young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care provided. Wherever possible, they talked to children and young people and their families. In addition, the inspectors have tried to understand what the children’s home knows about how well it is performing, how well it is doing and what difference it is making for the children and young people whom it is trying to help, protect and look after.

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Information about this inspection

Using the ‘Social care common inspection framework’, this inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service, how it meets the core functions of the service as set out in legislation, and to consider how well it complies with the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’. Inspection report children’s home: 1258199 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Acorn Homes (UK) Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 424 Margate Road, Ramsgate, Kent CT12 6SJ

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Inspector

Maria Lonergan: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1258199 10 achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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